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We Put the "Camp" in Camp Nanowrimo

June 13, 2012

It’s week two of our great summer noveling adventure—Camp Nanowrimo—and last night at the Boardwalk write-in, we decided to camp out.

The pitched tent, a Boy Scout backpack, and the sounds of birds in the jungle (available on CD from your local library) all created a setting reminiscent of days at summer camp. So before we started cranking out word count to reach our 50,000-word goal, we had a discussion on the importance of setting in our stories.

Week Two is a hard week for people writing a novel in a month. We often feel stuck. Even if we’ve written a good beginning, we often find our novel facing a number of crossroads, and we can’t decide which ones to explore. Do you know the secret for getting unstuck? --Keep writing.

And if you don’t know what to write, fill in some setting. Often the placement of your novel will help to tell its own story. So, choose some weather put some smells in the air, and give your characters some unique objects to handle. Those objects might even become poignant symbols later in your book.

The Boardwalk Branch is hosting write-ins every Tuesday during June from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Even if you’re not participating in Camp Nanowrimo, you can still stop by and enjoy some time dedicated to writing whatever you want to write. And, yes, you can still help yourself to some s'mores when you get here.